"One In Glory For God"

(John 17:20-26)

INTRODUCTION:

Grandpa passed his granddaughter's room one night and overheard her repeating the alphabet in an oddly reverent way. He asked her, "What on are you up to?" She explained, "I'm saying my prayers, but I can't think of exactly the right words, so I'm just saying all the letters. God will put them together for me, because God knows what I'm thinking." (1)

Prayer is a such wonderful gift from God. Preacher and theologian Ralph Sockman said, "To pray is to expose the shores of the mind to the incoming tide of God." (2)

This passage this morning from John is not your typical Easter Season Resurrection passage. Instead of being a resurrection appearance it goes back to the night of the Last Supper. It is a pre-resurrection passage that shows us the mind and heart of Christ as he prays for the disciples and for us. This is apparent in the Eugene Peterson translate the first verse in the Message, Jesus says: "I'm praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me." (MSG)

It's sort of mind boggling to think that Jesus had us in mind that night, isn't it? But he really did. He prayed for the disciples. He prayed for us. And he prayed for the Church. He prayed that we might glorify God. That we might have unity. And that others might know the glory of God through the love of God as it is expressed through us. So, how do we do all that?

I. WORSHIP AND PRAYER:

A. The first step is through Worship and Prayer. Those two go hand in hand. Worship in and of itself is a form of prayer. Worship is our corporate prayers sung and read and spoken and given, all to glorify and praise God. Worship within the Church is God's people gathered in God's house to stand in the presence of God. We gather to remind ourselves of the mystery of God, of God's love for us in spite of our faults and frailties; and of God's offer of salvation in Christ. We gather to remind ourselves that there is one who is bigger than all of our problems; all of our concerns; and all of our needs. We gather to be reminded that the one who is bigger, the one who created all wants a personal relationship with each of us.

Part of worship is simply soaking up the awe of that knowledge. Part of worship is lifting our voices is praise and joy and prayer over that knowledge. That common experience in the midst of corporate worship helps build the unity Jesus prayed about.

B. Personal prayer also helps build that unity. As most of you know, I took a prayer retreat Monday. I spent the day and night at our Camp in Glen Rose praying for all of you. There were a group of 12 who tried to call everyone in the Church and gather prayer concerns. The notebook I took with me was about an inch and a half thick, filled with your concerns. If I didn't have any from your family, I still prayed for each of you.

I've never tried or experienced anything like this before. So, I'm not sure what I should expect. I'm curious about how God will use this event. And I'd like to hear from folks about prayers answered. I already know of one very specific request that was answered. One of the men of the Church asked that I pray that God would find him a job. I prayed for him that morning. In the mid-afternoon he received not one but two calls about jobs. He starts work next week. When he told me this he laughed and asked if I could go down again next Monday and pray for lottery numbers.

I don't have any magical connection. It could be coincidence. But I think his job is an answer to prayer. Not just mine but his and his family's and everyone else's who knows of their situation. The point isn't WHOSE prayer was answered. The point is that we are called to pray for each other, for ourselves, for our family and for the Church. When we take time to pray for one another; when we take time to remember each other's needs and concerns, God honors those prayers. Not only that but God is glorified through our prayers. And the glory that is in Christ is given to us.

God is glorified and Christ's presence is made known in our lives when we worship together and pray for one another.

II. SERVICE AND CARE:

A. The second step is through Service and Care. We have some wonderful ministries in our Church; ministries of service and care. The work we do at the Night Shelter, the baskets and school supplies we gather for the Women's Shelter; the baskets we gather at Thanksgiving; the blankets we collect at Christmas; the blood drive all of these are great ministries of care for others. So is the Loaves and Fishes committee. This is the group that oversees the preparation of meals for those who have lost loved ones or who have had a hospital stay.

All of those are ways in which we care for each other through areas of service.

B. There's another way that you're going to be hearing more about in the next few months. And that's the Stephen Ministry. There is a rainbow brochure in your bulletin today that gives a brief description of Stephen Ministries.

Stephen Ministries is named after Stephen, whose life and ministry is described in chapters 6-8 of Book of Acts. Stephen was one of the first seven who were set aside by the Apostles to provide a caring ministry for the early Church members. That's what Stephen Ministry is all about: providing a caring ministry for the members of the Church.

Stephen Ministers are trained to give one-on-one care to individuals who are facing a wide variety of situations. A young couple who has just experienced the birth of their first child may both need Stephen Ministers to help them through the transition of being parents. Someone who is going through a divorce or who has lost a loved one are both good candidates for receiving the care of a Stephen Minister. Someone who has lost their job, someone who is homebound or hospitalized; someone who is terminally ill. All of these folks and more are the kind of folks who would benefit from the one-on-one care of a trained Stephen Minister.

Our congregation has enrolled. And I've been to the Stephen Leader's Training Course. In the next few months we will be organizing and starting the training process for Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministers receive 50 hours of training and then meet twice a month with their Stephen Leaders for Supervision, support and continuing education.

We do a good job of caring for one another. Our Sunday School classes and small groups keep on top of the needs and concerns of their members pretty well. Stephen Ministries will allow us to take that caring to a different level. It will also allow us to reach out to those not in one of these small groups. Stephen Ministries will allow us to be more intentional and involve more lay people in direct caring ministries.

Stephen Ministries will help us put the last verse of today's passage into practice. Jesus said: "I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." The love of Christ will be made known more fully as we care for one another through this ministry.

You'll be hearing a whole lot more about this in the future.

III. THE HOLY SPIRIT:

A. Finally, all of this comes about through our dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Our worship and prayer, our service and care all come through God's Holy Spirit.

Today is also Ascension Sunday, the day to celebrate Jesus' ascension into heaven. The disciples witnessed that. They had walked with Jesus for three years. They had seen miracle upon miracle. They heard him teach and preach. They witnessed the agony of the crucifixion and the joyous surprise of the resurrection. Then during the next forty days Jesus made appearance after appearance. It always seemed that right in the middle of their doubt, right in their darkest hour Jesus would suddenly appear, risen and whole and remind them of his promise and of his presence. But then one day he took them to back to Jerusalem, up to the Mount of Olives and he bid them a final physical farewell.

I say physical because he promised to be with them always even unto the end of the age.

But as they watched him slowly ascend to be with God they couldn't help but wonder how he could still be with them if he was gone. What Bob Dylan said was true, "the answer my friend is blowing in the wind," the wind of the Holy Spirit.

In the earlier part of the prayer that concludes in today's passage, Jesus promised that there would be one who would follow him, a Counselor and Comforter who would remind the disciples and all who follow that Jesus IS with us always. This Counselor, Comforter is the Holy Spirit. The presence of the living and risen Christ with each us.

B. Gordon Brownville's "Symbols of the Holy Spirit" tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird's cage and set it free. Can you imagine the delight of Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home one day and saw that pigeon circling in the sky above. There's no doubt that she exclaimed something like, "He's alive! My husband is still alive!"

When Jesus ascended, he was gone. And you know the old saying, "Out of sight, out of mine." But luckily the disciples clung to promise of the Comforter and Counselor. And just a few short days after the ascension Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost.

Because of that day, the disciples and every follower from that time on has had the presence of Christ with them, the continual reminder that Jesus is alive and at the right hand of the Father. (3)

It is the Holy Spirit that helps us bring glory to God through Christ. It is the Spirit that inspires us and leads us.

CONCLUSION:

Our challenge is to listen to the Spirit's leading; to worship and pray; to serve and to care so that we can bring glory to God. The same kind of Glory that Christ brought to God.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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1. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 424.

2. Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 9006

3. Thomas Lindberg. Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Leadership-Vol. 7, #3, Autoillustrator

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